Surgical sponge with radioactive tracer



April 3, 1956 H. C. RIORDAN SURGICAL SPONGE WITH RADIOACTIVE TRACER Filed Aug. 4, 1948 IN VEN TOJR.

United Sttes Patent SURGICAL SPON GE WITH RADIOACTIV E I TRACER Howard C. Riordan, Oak Park, lli. Application August 4, 1948, Serial'No. 42,4481 1 Claim. (Cl. 12S-296) This invention has to do with sponges used for absorbing body fiuids pursuant to performing surgical operations and relates more particularly to a sponge carrying radioactive material thereby making the sponge susceptible of being detected if inadvertantly left within a body cavity.

Heretofore, so far as I am aware, the expedient used in testing for the presence of surgical sponges inadvertantly left within a body cavity after the performance of an operation has been to associate a radio opaque substance with such Sponges. The test for sponges left within the body have been made by the use of X-rays and a uorescent screen. This process has been unsatisfactory for various reasons. One disadvantage of using the radio opaque sponge is the inconvenience in most instances of subjecting the patient to the X-ray examination. This inconvenience would frequently occur because of the X-ray equipment being in a different part of a hospital than the surgery room. In smaller hospitals or clinics there may be no X-ray equipment because of its cost.

An important object of this invention is the provision of a type of surgical sponge capable of being detected by less costly equipment which could be available in every hospital and in every surgical clinic. The equipment employable for detecting the improved surgical sponge can also be less massive than X-ray equipment, can be portable, will require no high voltage, and therefore can be a standard piece of equipment within every surgery room.

A more specific object of the invention is the provision of a surgical sponge having a trace of radioactive substance associated therewith, making it readily detectable by photosensitive film, a Geiger counter or other means of manifesting the presence of rays emanating from a radioactive substance.

A further object is the provision of a surgical sponge wherein there is a radioactive substance concentrated within a small portion of the sponge in contrast to being dispersed throughout the sponge. Concentration of the radioactive substance is desired because all of the rays then issue from a localized position to increase the percentage of rays striking the sensitive part of a manifesting device, thereby making a given concentration of the radioactive substance more susceptible of detection.

A further object is the provision of a surgical sponge containing a deposit of radioactive substance occupying a concentrated area interiorly thereof wherefore no part of the substance directiy contacts body tissue. Thus there is an avoidance of vagrant traces remaining upon the body tissue and giving a false indication of the presence of a sponge.

Still a further object is the provision of a surgical sponge having a jacket formed from an initially at soft flexible porous sheet having its edges gathered together at a proximal end of the jacket, and fastening means for the gathered edges of the sheet, and such fastening means constituting a carrier for the radioactive substance.

These and other desirable objects inherent in and enice compassed by the invention will be more clearly under stood from the ensuing description and claim and the annexed drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a sidev elevationalview of a surgical sponge embodying a preferred form of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a cross sectional view taken axially and centrally through the sponge shown in Fig. l and at theplane indicated by the line 2-2. i

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken similarlyl to Fig. 2 through a modified form of the invention.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view'taken similarly to Fig. 2 through a third embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view also taken similarly to Fig. 2 through still another embodiment.

In Figs. l and 2 there is shown a bulbous surgical sponge having a jacket 11 formed of fabric gauze or other suitable soft flexible porous material initially in sheet form. The distal end l2 of the sponge registers with a central portion of the gauze sheet from whichthe jacket 11 isshaped, and the perimetric edge portion of the sheet is gathered together at the proximaly endv 13 of the sponge to form a neck 14 which is turned inwardly of the bulbous jacket. Subsequent to turning the edge portions of the flexible porous sheet inwardly of the resulting jacket 11, and prior to permitting an elastic band 15 to contract onto the inturned neck, a body of fibrous filling material 16 is inserted into the jacket. Thereafter the elastic band is allowed to contract for retaining the neck in its gathered inturned position and preventing egress of the filling material. The filling material may be ordinary sterilized cotton fibers.

In this embodiment of the invention the elastic band 15 is coated or impregnated with a trace of radioactive substance, preferably cobalts. This substance is biologically innocuous in the sense that human body tissue can be subjected indefinitely to the rays emanating therefrom without deleterious effect. Associating the radioactive substance with the elastic band 15 has the advantage of concentrating the radioactive substance and the further advantage of causing the radioactive substance to be disposed interiorly of the sponge unit so none-thereof comes in direct contact with moist body tissue. When the deposit of radioactive substance is thus concentrated there is less diffusion of the rays than if such rays were emanating from an equal quantity of the substance distributed throughout the body of the sponge, thereby making it possible to obtain more positive detection of a given radiation.

Employing the elastic band as the carrier` for the radioactive substance and thereby keeping the substance out of direct contact with body tissue of a patient minimizes any vagrant traces left Within the body after removal of the sponge and correspondingly minimizes any false indication of the presence of a sponge because of rays emanating from contaminated body tissue.

The sponge illustrated in Fig. 3 differs from that shown in Figs. 1 and 2 only in the respect of the initially lflat piece of material from which the jacket 21 is formed being larger than the piece from which the jacket 11 is formed in the first embodiment. The initially flat piece from which the jacket 21 is formed is sufficiently large that tails 22 comprising edge portions of the flat piece constitute sufcient bulk for comprising the filling material of the sponge in lieu of the fibrous filling material 16 in the first v In this embodiment of the invention the adhesive material terial radially inwardly of the exterior of the globular 'sponge unit so direct contact of the radioactive substance with body tissue is averted.

In the form of the invention illustrated in Fig. 5 there A is also employed'a jacket 11 which may be identical with that in the'rst embodiment, and a fibrous filler material 16. This embodiment employs a thread 26 treated with a radioactive substance for securing the inturned neck of the gauzeja'cket in position. Here again the carrier (thread) for the radioactive substance disposes such substance radially inwardly of the globular sponge out of ,direct Contact with the body tissue of the patient and 'concentrates the zone from which radiation occurs.

. l These limited forms of the invention have been shown Aand described with the view of clearly and concisely illustrating the invention, it being contemplated that other forms encompassed within the scope of this invention will occur to those skilled in the art.

l claim:

A surgical sponge comprising a bulbous jacket of soft porous iexible material having an edge portion gathered together to form a constricted tubular neck at a proximal end of the jacket, said neck being turned radially inwardly of the jacket, an elastic band disposed interiorly of the jacket and contracted onto the inturned neck thereof retaining it in the constricted inturned position, and a trace of radioactive substance carried by the elastic band and emitting only rays having a biologicaliy innocuous effect upon a human body continuously subjected thereto.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 652,519 OCallaghan lune 26, 1900 1,603,767 Harris Oct. 19, 1926 1,956,948 Fattinger et al May 1, 1934 1,980,519 Grunzig et al Nov. 13, 1934 2,163,588 Cornish June 27, 1939 2,333,641 Corwin Nov. 9, 1943 2,378,328 Robinson et al Iune l2, 1945 2,401,723 Deming June 11, 1946 2,553,382` Riordan May 15, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS 5,182 Great Britain July 10, 1913 333,980l Great Britain Aug. 28, 193() 

